Design, high rents dampen trade at Stanley wet market

It may be Hong Kong's swankiest wet market, but on most days there is hardly a shopper in sight at the new Stanley Waterfront Mart.

Shopkeepers in the stylish, single-storey, wood-and-glass structures along prime waterfront property say business is bleak because of the unsuitable design of the shops and construction work still being carried out on the HK$14 million promenade.

Most tourists and locals are unaware that the shops are open, and business in the 'ghost town' has suffered to the point that shopkeepers recently staged a protest, asking the government to waive their rent at least until the renovation has been completed.

The centre was built to replace Stanley's only wet market on the same site, but some tenants are beginning to question the government's wisdom of reserving expensive waterfront retail space for shops selling fresh produce.

The centre's landlord, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, has stipulated that about half of the 20 shops facing the sea must be reserved for the vendors of wet market goods, from fresh meat and fish to fruits and vegetables. Only 13 shops have been let.

Scarlett Yuen Mei-yi, a 26-year-old who opened a souvenir shop in the centre last month, said: 'I don't think it's a good idea to put a stall selling pork or live fish in such a beautiful tourist attraction. Everyone hates the idea and they think it's a waste of public money.'

She added that, in contrast to its outwardly sharp architectural style, the building was poorly designed. 'When it's sunny, it's hot enough to drive me mad, and when it rains, the roof leaks. I wonder what's going to happen in a typhoon.